New York City Heliports, Helicopter Airport Transportation Services, Downtown Manhattan Heliport

East 34th Street Heliport / Atlantic Metroport at East 34th Street

The East -34th Street Heliport, also known as the Atlantic Metroport at East 34th Street is located in Midtown just off FDR Drive and was built in 1972 to replace the heliport that resided above the Pan American Building until 1968.

• Run By: The 34th St. Heliport is owned by the city of New York and the Economic Development Corporation runs it as a public port.
• History: Originally, this was a popular NYC heliport for sky tours around the City, but after 1997sightseeing rides were forced to cease. The large development of sky-scrapers in the area caused the East 34th Street Heliport to ban these tourist rides in order to reduce helicopter traffic. With the rising business and residential numbers in New York City, a year later in 1998 restrictions got tighter, limiting flights to weekdays from 8am-8pm and weekends from 10am-6pm. Just a few months later, weekend flights were completely banned and the flight schedule limitations during the week remain the same to this day.
• Services: Weekend flights weren't the only services to stop. The 34th Street Heliport transported passengers from East 34th street to  Newark Airport and JFK International Airport. This regular schedule ran from 2007-2009.
• Used By: The Atlantic Metroport at East 34th Street has become mainly (72%) an air taxi port. Just 18% of flights out of here are general aviation, only 9% are commuter flights and less than 1% of flights are for military personnel.

West 30th Street Heliport

The West 30th Street Heliport is a public heliport located in Manhattan and has been in operation since 1956.

• History: There have been quite a few memorable sightseeing accidents that have occurred over the decades at West 30th Street Heliport, many ending in peaceful rescues and a few of them landed passengers and pilots mildly injured. However, in 2009 one particular sightseeing tour helicopter collided with a small private plane ending in nine deaths total.
• Services: The West 30th Street Heliport is located so close to the Hudson River that helicopter pilots must take extra precaution when approaching the landing pad. Because of this, residents in the surrounding areas have pleaded to have all tourist flights canceled at this location. A court order has pushed plans for relocating the West 30th Street Heliport flights to be schedule out of the Downtown Manhattan Heliport instead.
• Used By: At this point, this heliport is mainly (73%) used for air taxi services, with 16% of air traffic for general aviation. Only 10% of flights are commercial and less than 1% are for military personnel.